The present application relates generally to lighting fixtures and, more particularly, to lighting fixtures utilized in passenger vehicles, such as aircraft, trains, buses, ships, etc.
A variety of lighting fixtures or elements, including fixtures comprising one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs), are disclosed in the prior art. In some cases, these lighting elements include one or more LEDs enclosed in a housing having an optically neutral lens. In other cases, lighting elements may include focusing or coloring optics adapted to a particular purpose. For example, LEDs may be selectively powered to control a light beam pattern, including, the shape, size, intensity and direction of the light beam pattern. A controller can provide manual or automatic control of the light beam pattern to adjust an illumination area.
To the extent that conventional lighting fixtures have the capability to aim or direct a beam, this capability is typically limited to expanding or limiting a beam so as to direct a beam at a particular sub-region within a larger lighting region, e.g., the area defined by an area of a seat positioned below the fixture. As a result, one such fixture is often required for each user. For instance in an aircraft, one such fixture would be installed for each seat. To the extent that conventional lighting fixtures permit variation in directing the beam of light, the variation is typically limited to directing a beam to particular sub-region of a larger region, e.g., the area defined by the area of a seat positioned below the fixture. Again, one such fixture is often required for each user, resulting in the need for the installation of one such fixture for each seat.